The Garden’s Design Masterplan, titled ‘Olive Pink Botanic Garden – the People’s Garden’, was launched by Libby Prell on Miss Pink’s birthday, Saturday 17th March. 75 people were on hand to celebrate the unveiling of a sweeping vision of the Garden’s future.

Special guest Julie Marcus, the author of The Indomitable Miss Pink, spoke about Miss Pink’s campaigns and commended the proposed Miss Pink Centre to be located in the existing buildings in the Garden. Libby thanked all of those in the community who put so much into its’ development and then handed over a 108 page Garden Design Masterplan to the new Chair of the Garden’s Board of Trustees, Fran Kilgariff AM. Fran, Peter Latz, Connie Spencer AM and Dr Colleen O’Malley spoke glowingly of Libby’s transformative role in the Garden as Chair over many years, including her work in developing the Design Masterplan.

Fran also talked about her memories of Miss Pink from her childhood, and said that she looked forward to working with everyone on the implementation of this historic and visionary plan for the Garden and the people of Alice Springs.

Developed over 12 months of public and stakeholder consultations, this ambitious plan aims to unlock the potential of the Garden for the people of Alice Springs. It was funded by the NT Government, and developed by landscape designer ‘Clouston and Associates’, architects Dugdale and Associates, and Geoff Miers Garden Solutions after extensive consultation.

A keystone of the Plan is the central place Arrernte culture and employment will have in the future of the Garden. In addition, the Plan outlines how the Garden can make a much greater contribution to the liveability, public amenity, tourism, cultural life and the environment of Alice Spring.

Please click on this link to view a copy of the plan.

Connie Spencer AM thanking Libby for her tremendous contribution to the Garden, and welcoming Fran as the new Chair.Libby Prell handing over a copy of ‘The People’s Garden’ to new Chair, Fran Kilgariff AM

This self-guided walk will introduce you to a number of mallees that grow in Central Australia.

Mallee is the name given to multi-stemmed trees which belong to the gum tree genera Eucalyptus and Corymbia.

There are around 1000 different eucalypts and bloodwoods worldwide, the majority only occurring in Australia. Mallee was a very common vegetation type across drier parts of southern Australia before extensive clearing for agriculture.

Mallees provide animportant source of firewood, timber, gum, honey and Eucalyptus oil. Mallee habitat is critical for many native plants and animals. Unlike other parts of Australia, mallees and
other gum trees are relatively rare in Central Australia, where wattles predominate.

This self-guided walk will introduce you to a number of wattles (Acacia) that grow in Central Australia.

There are over 1000 different wattles in Australia and over 1300 worldwide. The wattle has been regarded as our national flower since 1901; however it was not until 1988 that Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) officially became our national emblem.

Wattles have been used extensively by Aboriginal people and by European settlers for timber, firewood and food. The seeds of several different species are an important food resource for Aboriginal people, and more recently wattle seed products have been developed for the growing bushfood market. Wattle is the predominant habitat type across Central Australia.

The walk will introduce you to a number of the native plants that grow in the rocky hill habitat of the region.

Many of these plants have evolved to tolerate drought. Some, known as ‘resurrection plants’ do so by dying back and regenerating from rootstock or tubers once rain falls again.

Please make sure you take water with you, have appropriate footwear for the rocky path and supervise children. There is a sign at the top of the hill outlining the importance of this site to the Arrernte people.

We ask visitors to keep to the path and respect this important cultural site.